Nigerian quartermile trio of Patience Okon George, Yinka Ajayi and Margaret Bamgbose will have to set new personal best times and possibly run inside 50 seconds if one or all three of them desire to race in Tuesday 400m final at the on-going 16th IAAF World Championships.
The trio made history of some sort in the first round when they became the second Nigerian trio of quartermilers to qualify for the semi-final of the championships after the feat recorded in 2009 by the trio of Folasade Abugan, Sorina Nwachukwu and Amaka Ogoegbunam.
George came second in Heat 5 behind USA’s Quanera Hayes in 51.83 seconds, while the duo of Ajayi and Bamgbose came third in their respective heats.
Ajayi, making her debut at the championships ran 51.58 seconds in a heat that had the reigning Olympic champion in the event, Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller-Uibo (50.97) and Jamaica’s Stephenie Ann Mcpherson (51.27), who came first and second respectively.
Bamgbose, a semi-finalist at the Olympics in Rio last year, was also third in heat 6 to book a place in Monday night’s semi-final.
The trio will make history if they make it to the final to become the first time Nigeria will present three athletes in the final.
The best Nigeria has produced was when Fatimah Yusuf and Falilat Ogunkoya ran in the final of the event in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1995.
They will however have to break new grounds to make that a reality.
George has been drawn in the first of the three semi-final heats and will have to run faster than the 50.71 seconds personal best she set two years ago before she can have a chance of upsetting the duo of Miller-Uibo and Hayes and pick one of the two automatic qualification slots for the final or hope to qualify as one of the two fastest losers after the three semi-finals must have been decided.
The same magic the duo of Ajayi and Bamgbose would have to perform tonight as they were also drawn against world class quartermilers.